2017 March - Pro Football Rumors

QB Geno Smith To Visit Giants

March 11th, 2017 at 10:11am CST by Ben Levine

Geno Smith is believed to be meeting with the Giants today, reports Art Stapleton of USA Today (via Twitter). This is the first reported visit for the free agent quarterback.

For the second straight season, Smith played sparingly behind starter Ryan Fitzpatrick. Since the start of the 2015 season, the former second-rounder has appeared in only three games, completing 62-percent of his passes for 391 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.

His last full season as a starter came in 2014. He led the Jets to a 3-10 record in 13 starts (14 games), completing 59.7-percent of his passes for 2,525 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. The speedy signal-caller added another 238 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

Eli Manning is the lone quarterback on the Giants current roster, as both Josh Johnson and Ryan Nassib are unrestricted free agents.

We graded Smith as the 14th-best available quarterback in our free agent positional rankings.

Jaguars To Sign Earl Watford

March 11th, 2017 at 9:53am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jaguars have agreed to a two-year, $6MM deal with offensive lineman Earl Watford, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Watford, 26, has the ability to play all along the offensive line, as he saw time at both right guard and right tackle for the Cardinals in 2016. That quality alone makes him valuable to the Jaguars, who sorely needed to added front five depth this offseason. In Jacksonville, Watford will likely act as a reserve to tackles Branden Albert and Jermey Parnell and guards Patrick Omameh and A.J. Cann, although he could conceivably compete with Omameh to start at left guard.

A former fourth-round pick, Watford picked up 11 of his 13 career starts during the 2016 campaign. Pro Football Focus wasn’t very fond of his play, however, ranking him as the fourth-worst offensive tackle in the league last year.

Chiefs, James Winchester Restructure Deal

March 11th, 2017 at 9:38am CST by Ben Levine

The Chiefs carved out a chunk of cap room this morning. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets
that the team has restructured the contract of James Winchester, converting his $500K roster bonus into a signing bonus. This saves the team around $400K in cap space.

This might not seem like a lot of money in the whole scheme of things, but the move will provide the cash-strapped organization with some breathing room. The Chiefs were estimated to have between $4MM and $2MM in cap space as they headed into free agency.

After entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2013, Winchester has caught on with Kansas City over the past two seasons. The 27-year-old has played all 32 games during this span, collecting a fumble. The organization re-signed the long snapper earlier this offseason.

Falcons, Ryan Schraeder Rework Contract

March 11th, 2017 at 9:38am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Falcons have created $4.8MM in cap space by converting offensive tackle Ryan Schraeder‘s $6MM roster bonus into a signing bonus, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com.

Schraeder, 28, agreed to a five-year, $30MM extension with Atlanta in November (a deal that, given the free agent tackle market, he may now regret). Originally scheduled to count $7.1MM against the Falcons’ 2017 salary cap, Schraeder will now only take up $2.3MM. He won’t be losing any money, and in fact will likely now be paid earlier. Schraeder’s cap charge will increase by $1.2MM from 2018-2021.

In 2016, Schraeder started 16 games for the second consecutive season, bringing his career total to 46 starts in 58 games. The former undrafted free agent graded as the league’s No. 13 offensive tackle last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Andre Holmes To Visit Lions

March 11th, 2017 at 9:35am CST by Dallas Robinson

Free agent wide receiver Andre Holmes will visit the Lions on Sunday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Detroit was one of six teams with reported interest in Holmes earlier this month, a list that also included the Raiders, 49ers, Redskins, Jets, and Bears. As of yet, the Lions have mostly focused on defensive additions this offseason, with their one offensive signing being tackle Ricky Wagner. Wide receiver Corey Brown took a visit with the club on Friday, however, while the Lions have also been linked to pass-catchers Andre Roberts, Jared Cook, and Darren Fells.

Holmes, 28, has spent the past four seasons in Oakland after beginning his career with the Cowboys. The former undrafted free agent was a large part of the Raiders’ offense as recently as two years ago, as he posted 47 receptions for nearly 700 yards and four touchdowns during the 2014 campaign. In 2016, however, Holmes managed only 14 catches, but was a key cog on special teams, where he played over 65% of Oakland’s snaps.

Due to his lackluster offensive production, Holmes didn’t earn a spot among PFR’s free agent wide receiver rankings, but clearly clubs have already expressed interest in acquiring the 6’5″ pass-catcher. Holmes earned $2MM in 2016 on a one-year deal with Oakland, which was agreed to after other teams pushed to sign him.

Buccaneers Sign J.J. Wilcox

March 11th, 2017 at 9:25am CST by Ben Levine

J.J. Wilcox has found a new home. Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports (via Twitter) that the safety has signed a deal with the Buccaneers. NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo says (via Twitter) that it will be a two-year deal worth up to $8.5MM.

We’ve been hearing all week that there was mutual interest between both sides. However, Wilcox appeared to have a number of suitors. His former team, the Cowboys, were interested in bringing him back following the departure of Barry Church. The Seahawks and Dolphins were also connected to the free agent.

The former third-round had played his entire four-year career in Dallas. Wilcox served mostly as a sub during his first season in the league, but he established himself as a starter between 2014 and 2015. Last season, the safety reverted to a backup, as he finished with a career-low four starts (in 13 games) after losing his job to rookie Byron Jones.

The 26-year-old was still plenty productive. Wilcox finished the campaign with 49 tackles, one forced fumble, one interception, and a career-high six passes defended. Thanks to his performance, PFR listed him as the 12-best available safety in our positional free agent rankings.

Wilcox will joined a Buccaneers safety corps that includes Chris Conte, Keith Tandy, and Ryan Smith.

Contract Details: Bennett, Bouye, Branch

March 11th, 2017 at 9:13am CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s take a look at the details of some recently-signed free agent contracts:

Martellus Bennett, TE (Packers): Three years, $20.25MM. $6.3MM guaranteed. Base salaries of $900K, $3.6MM, $5.65MM. $2MM roster bonus due on first day of 2018 league year. $600K in annual per-game roster bonuses. $$250K annual workout bonus (link via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
A.J. Bouye, CB (Jaguars): Five years, $65MM. $26MM guaranteed. $10MM signing bonus. Base salaries of $3MM, $13MM, $13MM, $13MM, $13MM. $500K annual workout bonus (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle).
Alan Branch, DT (Patriots): Two years, $8.45MM. $3MM guaranteed. $2MM signing bonus. Annual $400K workout and weight bonus of $400K each. $3.55MM available via not-likely-to-be-earned incentives (link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com).
Ted Ginn, WR (Saints): Three years, $11MM. $3MM guaranteed. $3MM signing bonus. Base salaries of $2MM, $3MM, $2.5MM. 2018 $500K roster bonus. $500,000 aviailve vie playtime, catches incentives (Twitter link via Wilson).
Tanner Purdum, LS (Jets): One year, $980K. $400K guaranteed (Twitter link via Dennis Waszak Jr. of the Associated Press).
Brandon Williams, DT (Ravens): Five years, $52.5MM. $27.5MM guaranteed. $12.5MM signing bonus (Twitter link via Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun).
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, CB (Falcons): One year, $775K (minimum salary) (Twitter link via Wilson).

OL Andre Smith To Visit Bills

March 11th, 2017 at 8:49am CST by Ben Levine

Free agent offensive tackle Andre Smith is set to visit the Bills, reports ESPN’s Jeff Darlington (via Twitter). The reporter also notes that Smith could wind up with his former team, the Bengals.

The former first-round spent the first seven seasons of his career in Cincinnati before signing a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Vikings last offseason. Smith would ultimately play in four games (four starts) for Minnesota before going down for the year with a triceps injury.

The 30-year-old has 86 career games (77 starts) under his belt. He hasn’t played in all 16 games since 2013, and he’s missed 21 games over the past three seasons.

The Bills don’t have a lot of depth at offensive tackle. Behind Cordy Glenn and Cyrus Kouandjio, the team is only rostering Michael Ola.

Jets Sign Kelvin Beachum

March 11th, 2017 at 8:34am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jets have signed free agent tackle Kelvin Beachum, the club announced. It’s reportedly a a three-year, $24MM deal with $12MM in guarantees. Beachum will receive a $4.5MM signing bonus, and earns the right to opt out of the final year of the contract if he makes the Pro Bowl in either 2017 or 2018.

Beachum will become New York’s new blindside protector, although it’s unclear as of yet who he’ll be protecting. Gang Green declined its option on incumbent left tackle Ryan Clady earlier this offseason, and although the club re-signed offensive lineman Ben Ijalana — who filled in on the left side for the majority of the 2016 campaign — he figures to slide to right tackle now that Beachum is under contract.

Last offseason, Jacksonville signed Beachum to a unique contract which included a $5MM option bonus for 2017-2020. The option, which would have fully guaranteed Beachum an additional $13MM in base salary, had to be exercised or declined 22 days prior to the start of the new league year. The Jaguars opted not to pick up the option, and subsequently traded for fellow left tackle Branden Albert.

Beachum, 27, was an elite left tackle in 2014 with the Steelers, but an ACL injury during the 2015 campaign ended his season and torpedoed his free agent value. Like fellow injury-affected left tackle Russell Okung, Beachum agreed to an oddly-structured contract that fully guaranteed him only $1.5MM, but contained the aforementioned option bonus, option years, and $11MM in incentives and escalators.

Perhaps still recovering from his knee injury, Beachum struggled in 2016, grading as the league’s No. 63 tackle among 78 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus, the same organization that rated him as the NFL’s fifth-best OT in 2014. As such, it’s fair to wonder how much the ACL is/was still bothering Beachum, even though he was able to remain on the field for 15 games.

FOX Sports (Twitter link) first reported the signing. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) added the length of the deal and its basic financial details. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported (Twitter link) the signing bonus and opt-out provision. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Darius Butler Visiting Bears

March 11th, 2017 at 8:19am CST by Dallas Robinson

Defensive back Darius Butler is meeting with the Bears today, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who adds this will be the first of “several scheduled trips” for Butler. La Canfora reported on Friday that Butler had reached an impasse in negotiations with the Colts and was planning to visit other clubs.

Butler, a former second-round pick, had played cornerback for most of his career before transitioning to safety in the middle of last season. He wants to continue playing deep, as he told Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star last week, and that’s presumably how Butler is marketing himself to potential suitors. Pro Football Focus still graded Butler among corners in 2016, and the 30-year-old finished as the league’s No. 20 CB.

Chicago has already signed one safety this week, agreeing to terms with former Houston defensive back Quintin Demps. Demps will pair with incumbent Adrian Amos in the Bears’ secondary, but given the popularity of three-safety (“big nickel”) sets in today’s NFL, Chicago still has room for Butler. Plus, given Butler’s ability to cover the slot, he’d presumably find ample playing time.

Butler, who appeared in 12 games (seven starts) for Indianapolis, ranks as PFR’s No. 48 overall free agent. Among safeties, we placed him fourth thanks to his coverage ability.